Violence in Schools: Implications and Impediments on Social Justice Education

Proceedings of The 6th International Conference on Research in Behavioral and Social Sciences

Year: 2019

DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/6th.icrbs.2019.07.419

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Violence in Schools: Implications and Impediments on Social Justice Education

Shuti Steph Khumalo

 

ABSTRACT: 

Violence seems to be a phenomenon that is increasingly disturbing in South African schools. Day in and day out, reports in different media platforms such as television, radio, newspaper, social media suggest that the scourge has reached alarming proportions. This violence is manifested in a number of forms such as bullying, teen suicides, sex scandals, various forms of discrimination based on ‘race’, sexuality, religion, ethnicity and ability, as well as unprofessional educator conduct (Burton, 2008). The primary objectives of this study are firstly to investigate the extend and the scope of school violence, secondly what causes this scourge, thirdly the consequences of violence in schools, finally, its impact on the behavior and the performance of the organization citizenship and the school as an organization. This investigation employed qualitative research and both print and electronic media that portray violence in schools and literature such as scientific articles, policy documents and relevant sources reporting on school violence were evaluated and analyzed. The theory of social justice was deployed as a lens to guide the investigation. The rationale for selecting this theory is that it can be argued that school violence serves promotes unfair, unjust and peace education.

Keywords: Learners; Organizational Performance; School Violence; Social Justice; Teachers.